In a Nutshell

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Alastair Moock has made a name for himself on the folk and Americana circuit, touring throughout the U.S. and Europe and playing renowned events like the Newport Folk Festival. When Moock’s twin daughters were born, he turned his focus to children’s music, releasing four award-winning albums for kids and families. In 2017, he returned to his singer-songwriter roots with his first “grownup” album release in ten years. The Boston Globe calls him “one of the town’s best and most adventurous songwriters” and The Washington Post says “every song is a gem.”

Beyond the Nut

Alastair started performing in 1995, moving from his home outside New York City to the folk haven of Boston. After working his way up through the local coffeehouse and club circuit, he began touring the U.S. and Europe, eventually graduating to renowned events like the Newport Folk Festival and Norway’s Bergen Music Fest and opening for national acts like Arlo Guthrie, Taj Mahal, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot and Greg Brown. In 2007 Moock was nominated for a Boston Music Award for Outstanding Singer-Songwriter of the Year. The Boston Globe called him “one of the town’s best and most adventurous songwriters” and The Washington Post declared “every song a gem.”

When Moock’s twin daughters were born in 2006, he turned his focus to family music, making four albums which together garnered most of the top awards in American children’s music, including a 2014 Grammy Nomination, two Parents’ Choice Gold Medals, and ASCAP’s coveted Joe Raposo Children’s Music Award.

In 2016, Moock returned to ‘grownup music,’ releasing a new self-titled album produced by Mark Erelli (Lori McKenna, Josh Ritter trio) and featuring drummer Marco Giovino (Robert Plant, Buddy Miller) and bassist Marty Ballou (Peter Wolf, John Hammond Jr.). The end result was eleven shimmering new tracks that evoke a wide breadth of American musical textures – early Nashville, country blues, Western swing, a tinge of gospel – but, most of all, the kind of intimate storyteller’s approach at which Moock excels. On the album’s release, Rich Warren of the nationally syndicated Midnight Special proclaimed, “Moock reemerges as the best new, old singer-songwriter on the scene.”

In his own words, Alastair is now “firing on all cylinders,” performing shows for adults, kids, and everyone in between. Like the folk and blues heroes to whom he often pays tribute in his shows – Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, Pete Seeger – Moock makes little distinction between his audiences: “Music is music, people are people. I just want to tell stories.”

Awards

2007 Boston Music Award Nominee, Outstanding Singer-Songwriter of the Year